


More of a childhood

by Light7



Category: Castlevania (Cartoon)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-10
Updated: 2020-07-31
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:15:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,126
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25179838
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Light7/pseuds/Light7
Summary: A conversation about defeating Dracula takes an unexpected turn.Or I just wanted to write more dad-Drac.
Comments: 5
Kudos: 28





	1. Chapter 1

They’d been in the hold now for what felt like an age.

Surrounded by the ‘trophies’ and paraphernalia of the Belmont’s crusade to exterminate his people. He perched atop bookshelves to review books for potential answers just to avoid the dead eyes and bleached skulls.

“You’ve been quiet,” Sypha said after staring at him for a time.

“I’m working,” Alucard muttered, putting deliberate emphasis on the word working. Which was what she should be doing. The sooner they found an answer, the sooner they could get out of this godforsaken place. The sooner they could face his father and… Alucard didn’t finish that thought.

“Well, you need a break,” Sypha said, sounding like she was forcing cheerfulness. “We all do.”

“What we need…” he started, but looking down at her he stopped. The dark circles under her eyes were getting bigger, her form was trembling ever so slightly. She needed a rest.   
“Take a rest, Sypha.”

“Not unless you come down,” she grinned at him, this expression more genuine than her previous tone. He sighed and put the book down, allowing himself to drop from his perch atop the bookcase. “Why are you hiding up there?” Sypha poked his arm when he stood back up. “Are you avoiding us?”

“No,” Alucard said, following her as she led him out of the stacks and into the more open centre of the hold. “I avoided that.” He gestured at one of the display cases. Sypha followed his gesture but said nothing.

“Happy now?” the Belmont said to Sypha as they reached the table and sat with him. “We’re all taking a break.”

“Yes,” Sypha tried for a smug tone, but it came across as weary. “We need to take breaks; I don’t want to miss something crucial because I was asleep on my feet.” They sat in silence for a long moment.

“So, we just sit here?” Belmont said.

“No,” Sypha pinched the bridge of her nose. “We talk, haven’t you ever been in a camp before?” the Belmont raised an eyebrow at her and she blushed a little. “I didn’t mean…”

“It’s fine,” Belmont snorted. “But forcing small talk feels more like work than work does.”

“The Belmont has a point,” Alucard said. Sypha groaned.

“Do I have to do everything,” she snapped. “You overgrown children.”

“I just don’t know what we could talk about that isn’t work,” Trevor mumbled. He looked for a moment like he was going to reach out to Sypha, but hesitated and gave up before completing the gesture. Alucard raised an eyebrow and snorted at him.

“Fine, we will talk about work,” Sypha said. She looked at Alucard. “We are going to end up in the castle, you could tell us a little of what to expect?”

“That might be more difficult than you realise,” Alucard muttered. “It is connected with chaos, it’s self-aware, and like all self-aware creatures it gets bored and fidgets.”

“It fidgets?” Sypha raised an eyebrow.

“What the hell does that mean?” Trevor snapped.

“That was how my father explained it,” Alucard couldn’t help the small smile. “The castle would fidget; it would move around a bit. Rooms were in the basement in the morning, might be in a tower in the evening.”

“The rooms moved?” Sypha said.

“Unless he attempted to stop them, yes,” Alucard said. “He rarely made the effort, said it felt cruel.”

“Dracula said it felt cruel,” Trevor said the words slowly, deliberately, like he was testing them out.

“Yes, Belmont. He wasn’t one to indulge in petty cruelty towards those he was fond of. Unless you count when he…” Alucard trailed off, realising he was about to launch into stories about growing up with the man these two only saw as a monster.

“Aww,” Sypha looked disappointed.

“No,” Alucard said. “It’s better if we don’t.”

“Screw that,” Trevor said. Sypha punched him in the arm. “No, really, I know nothing about Dracula, hell I thought you were him.”

“Yes, not every vampire who comes out of a coffin is Dracula,” Alucard tried to force venom into his voice to derail the subject.

“Shut it,” Trevor said. “If you can’t even give us a layout of the castle, then you can at least give us some information on him.”

“Trevor,” Sypha stage whispered. “We shouldn’t.”

“Why the hell not?” Trevor said. “We’re going to walk into a fight that will probably get us all killed, I want to have the best chance of winning, or at least getting a draw, we do that with knowledge.”

“Yes, but…” Sypha said.

“He’s right,” Alucard took a deep breath. “As much as it pains me to admit it twice in one conversation, Belmont is right. We need every shred of advantage we can muster. But I have never fought my father before. I doubt I can be much help.”

“You just said he indulged in petty cruelty,” Trevor said, leaning back in his chair. “That’s a start.” 

“I said he didn’t indulge in petty cruelty,” Alucard said. “If you’re not even going to listen, then I don’t see why I should keep talking.”

“You said,” Trevor puffed himself up and changed his voice to a poor impersonation of the half-blood. “’ Unless you count when he,’ then you trailed off.”

“Ahh, yes,” Alucard started. “Fine, but this won’t be helpful.”

“We’re just nosey,” Sypha smiled. Alucard hummed in agreement.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading, please review, I’d love to hear what you think of the chapter. 
> 
> For information on published works and upcoming projects, release dates, as well as weekly blogs, check out www.katiemariewriter.co.uk


	2. Chapter 2

“Before I tell you more, I want to make sure you understand about people,” Alucard started. He held up a hand when the Belmont opened his mouth. “Yes, I am including vampires in the definition of people. Not being human doesn’t make you not a person.”

“That sounds like something you’ve said before,” Sypha said.

“Not me, my mother,” Alucard muttered.

“She sounds like a… unique woman,” Sypha said.

“She was,” Alucard nodded. “She saw the world in a very singular way and if you argued with her, she’d flatten you. She was unstoppable. A great power.”

“I’m glad she used her power for good,” Sypha smiled. “I dread to think what she could have done had she taken it into her mind not to help people.”

“She never really saw it as helping,” Alucard said. “She saw how the world should be, or at least how she thought it should be, and worked to make it a reality.”

“I thought we were talking about Dracula,” Trevor said.

“You’re so rude,” Sypha said under her breath.

“My point,” Alucard said firmly before the two could start bickering. “Was to ensure that you understand that my father is a person. He is not a cookie-cutter monster the way you may, or may not, have been raised to see him,”

“The guy who is wiping out humanity isn’t a monster,” Trevor drawled.

“Not just a monster. People, human and vampire, are multifaceted, they feel the full spectrum of emotions and have multiple interests.” Alucard said. They met him with blank expressions. “I’m trying to tell you that my father is more than what he has become. He might be made of rage and anger now, but just a few years ago he was also happy. He might only want the destruction of humanity now, but a few years ago he wanted to go to Italy to raid a library he’d heard about.”

“A Library?” Trevor said.

“He devoured books,” Alucard said. Trevor raised an eyebrow. “Not literally, moron. He was interested in everything, at least it felt that way. I was not exaggerating when I called him a polymath.” Trevor frowned.

“My grandfather would say a jack of all trades,” Sypha explained.

“He didn’t know everything, but he knew something about everything,” Alucard sighed. “It is a part of what makes this a genuine tragedy.”

“It’s not tragic that hundreds are dying every night?” Trevor started. “But the perpetrator being able to read, that’s what does it for you?”

“You’re a fool, you understand nothing,” Alucard snapped. “Had my mother survived her people, she would have continued to sway him, and she could have brought all that knowledge to bear for the benefit of your people. But no, no, your people had to fear and loath any kind of progress. You proved him right.” Alucard stood up, his voice increasing in volume. But Sypha’s hand on his stopped him. He took a deep breath and sat back down. “I apologise,” he muttered. “I did not intend to start that argument.”

“You’re not wrong,” Trevor muttered after a long moment. Alucard looked at him. “People are fucking terrible.”

“But they don’t deserve genocide,” Alucard finished.

“We don’t have to talk about this,” Sypha said. “We can go back to research.”

“No, I think this will be useful actually,” Alucard said. “I did not mean to get so side-tracked.”

“You’ve made your point, Dracula was more than just a monster, he also liked books,” Trevor snorted.

“He used to tell the worst jokes,” Alucard suddenly snorted. “They were terrible but you couldn’t help but laugh because he’d laugh.” He smiled. “He could never finish one without sniggering before getting to the punch line and the punch line was always dreadful.”

“Books and bad jokes,” Trevor shrugged. “Great, a well-rounded guy.”

“Stop being rude,” Sypha said.

“We will not win this fight by telling jokes,” Trevor said, though there was no heat behind his words.

“No,” Alucard nodded.

“What is your point?” Trevor said. “It would be nice if you could get to it.”

“I was trying to get you to understand that he is a monster, but he’s also clever, and he’s also a man, he can frighten but he can also be funny.” Alucard took a deep breath. “I wanted you to understand this so that when I tell you anything else, you don’t think I’m making it up.”

“Making it up?” Sypha said. “Why would we think?”

“Because when people think of my father, they think of someone untouchable, someone to be afraid of, they don’t think about the man who used to play in fountains or pretend to be a helpless villager while I got to be the dragon. I need you to understand that before I help you kill him.”

“He played in fountains?” Sypha said as Trevor made comments about Alucard getting to be a dragon.

“Yes, like many father’s he played with me. He also taught me a lot of things, such as how to fight.” Trevor raised an eyebrow. “Did you expect me to have been born with the knowledge? Or perhaps you thought my mother taught me in between patients?”

“No, I just…” Trevor paused. “I didn’t think about it. I’ve never thought about who teaches monsters anything.”

“Trevor,” Sypha kicked him under the table.

“Not used to the monsters being more than big scary things with teeth?” Alucard said sharply. “Can’t imagine them having offspring and raising them to be good little monsters?”

“Stop it, you two,” Sypha said. “I swear, I did not join this merry band to play referee.” Both Trevor and Alucard fell quiet, staring at each other.

“He taught you to fight,” Trevor said. Alucard nodded.

“Eventually,” Alucard said. “We got distracted a lot, the castle fidgets, and often, we’d have to hunt out the coliseum.”

“There’s a coliseum!?”

“Well an area, he called it a coliseum, but I think he was just showing off,”

“How big is this place?!” Sypha asked.

“Very,” Alucard said. “Mother mostly lived in the library and living quarters, I was with her most, but when I turned seven fathers started letting me explore a lot.” He smiled. “The first time I went out on my own I got lost, it took my parents hours to find me. After that mother insisted that if I went wandering father had to go with me. She thought he knew where he was going.”

“I’m guessing from your tone that he didn’t,” Sypha said.

“He did mostly, but we got lost usually once or twice a week,” Alucard said. “But it was fun, I think he enjoyed showing me the different places in the castle.”

“Stop stalling and tell us about fighting him,” Trevor snapped.

“Quiet,” Sypha said. “I want to hear about Dracula getting lost in his own house, or this dragon game.”

“We need not know about that,” Trevor said. “We need to know about how Dracula fights.”

“Very well,” Alucard nodded. “I will tell you about the day my father taught me how to fight.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading, please review, I’d love to hear what you think of the chapter.  
> For information on published works and upcoming projects, release dates, as well as weekly blogs, check out [my website](https://katiemarie21.wordpress.com)


	3. Chapter 3

Adrian’s parents didn’t fight.

They had discussions where they would take opposing viewpoints and sometimes those discussions would become heated, those particular discussions usually related to the nature of man. They also bickered, but from his observations, it wasn’t mean spirited, it more resembled teasing, with one tormenting the other over a perceived inadequacy and the other trying like hell to prove them wrong. Then there were the sarcastic banter sessions which cropped up sometimes and usually ended with sniggers. Overall, it was apparent that they were smitten with each other to the point where while they didn’t agree on everything, they were at least willing to listen and engage with each other.

So, it was a great surprise to hear his mother’s raised voice one early afternoon in May.

“You can’t be serious.” Her tone was sharp, the sharpest he’d heard. He couldn’t help but slow his pace and creep closer to the door to the west wing laboratory.

“Of course, I’m serious,” his father’s tone was more moderate. “Why would you think I wasn’t?”

“Because he’s ten years old.” Lisa had lowered her voice a little, clearly trying to keep a level head. “And you want to give him a sword.”

“He’ll heal quickly if he hurts himself. Which he won’t, hurt himself, I mean. There’s no reason to worry about the sword.”

“It’s not the sword I’m taking issue with, it’s the message this will send,” Lisa said her tone raising again.

“Message!” Dracula barked, Adrian flinched, his father had never taken that tone with his mother before. 

“You think I care what message this sends to them? Arming my boy is what I care about.”

“You’re missing my point,” Lisa snapped. “Deliberately I suspect. I was referring to Adrian, what kind of message will this send him!”

“A bloody good one,” Dracula said.

“You’re doing this on purpose,” Lisa said, Adrian heard her take a deep breath. “I do not want you teaching our son that fear is the first thing he should feel, nor violence his first action, when dealing with humans.”

“So, you want him dead then?” Dracula snapped and Adrian felt the metaphorical temperature drop. There was a moment of dead silence.

“How dare you,” Lisa’s voice was very quiet.

“I didn’t mean that,” Dracula said softly. “I don’t know why I said that.”

“You’re angry, and a complete arse,” Lisa said firmly. “You’re trying to hurt me.”

“I’m not,” Dracula said, Adrian heard him move.

“Don’t touch me,” Lisa said her voice still quiet.

“Look at me.”

“No.”

“Please,” Dracula said, Adrian could hear movement. “I’m sorry, that was an evil thing to say, and untrue.”

“It was,” his mother’s voice was muffled.

“I don’t want to hurt you, I’m just worried,” Dracula’s tone was quiet now, softer.

“Why?” Lisa said.

“Because when you look at our boy, you see a ten-year-old child who has a fondness for being a pain in the backside. But when they look at him, they will see a threat, they won’t see his age…”

“Because he doesn’t look his age,” Lisa muttered.

“Yes, but not just that. They won’t see any of the things you see and love, they will see a monster, something to fear and loathe. They won’t try to engage with him they will just want him dead.”

“You know that’s not true of all of them,” Lisa said.

“I know, some of them are good, some may pause, but most, most of them won't. I want him to be able to survive long enough to find the ones worth seeking out.”

“Then teach him to run,” Lisa said. “Don’t teach him that force is the only way to be.”

“What if he can’t run?” Adrian heard his father say. “My kind are not invulnerable to being foolish or being trapped, he needs to be able to protect himself.”

“But…” Lisa started.

“I won’t teach him to hate,” Dracula said very softly. “I don’t want him to be like me, I just want him safe.”

“Then you can protect him,” Lisa sniffed. “You’ve got to be good for something.”

“Harsh,” Dracula muttered.

“Deserved,” Lisa countered.

“I will let you have that,” Dracula said.

“Good of you,” Lisa muttered. “But truly, keep him safe, you’re more than capable. I’m not saying never to teaching him to defend himself, just not now, not when he’s so young. Let him be a boy a bit longer.”

Adrian opened the door.

His parents were stood in the middle of the laboratory, his mother held in his father’s arms, she looked so small next to him, but strong. Her defiance was in her posture, though her own arms were around her husband.

“Mother,” he said softly. Lisa stiffened and pushed away from his father.

“Adrian,” she dabbed at her left eye, clearly trying to hide how upset she was. She saw the concern on his face. “It’s nothing, your father was…”

“I want to learn,” Adrian interrupted. Lisa’s eyes widened.

“He’s been outside the door for a while now,” Dracula said softly.

“And you said nothing?” Lisa snapped, her anger returning. Dracula shrugged.

“He’s old enough to be a party to decisions about his wellbeing,” he said quietly.

“You could have told me,” Lisa sighed. Then turned to Adrian. “How much did you hear?”

“Enough to know that I want to learn,” Adrian said. “I know that people aren’t bad, and I won’t hate them I promise. But I want to know how to fight.” He glanced at his father then back to his mother. “I want to be able to keep myself safe, and to keep you safe.”

“But…” Lisa started.

“I don’t want to seek out trouble,” Adrian said. “But what if something happened, I want to be able to help.”

“You’re a child,” Lisa stepped forward, hand cupping her son’s cheek. “You don’t have to help.” While it was true Adrian was only a boy, the fact he was taller now than his mother made her words feel false.

“I’m not teaching you so you can throw yourself into danger,” Dracula said firmly. “I’m teaching you so that you can get yourself out of it.”

“That’s what I want,” Adrian said. Lisa let out a long sigh and stepped back.

“Fine, but no swords, not yet.” She looked firmly at her husband. “There are other ways to protect yourself, other ways to make people not want to hurt you.”

“I know,” Dracula smiled. “But for now, this will be enough. 

And so, within the week Adrian found himself standing across the colosseum facing his father. He shifted from foot to foot, unable to stay still. He’d always seen his father as a source of protection and knowledge but standing across from him now, watching him remove his cape and take an attack stance made his stomach roll.

“Um?” he managed.

“What?” his father said standing straight again.

“What are you doing?” Adrian said. Dracula nodded.

“Usually I would talk you through concepts, but this isn’t mathematics or literature, the best way to learn here is simply to do. At least at first, later we can discuss technique and practice but to do so now would be pointless as you have no basis of reference.”

“So, this is like when you taught me to swim by throwing me in a river,” Adrian muttered.

“You can’t still be mad about that,” his father snickered. “How else would you teach such a practical skill.”

“By explaining, and demonstrating,” Adrian snapped back. Dracula grinned and crouched for less than a moment before suddenly pouncing. Adrian let out a startled yip and rolled out of the way.

“This is stupid,” he hissed getting back to his feet only to fall again when his father was suddenly behind him giving him a forceful shove. “Humans don’t move as fast as you, they aren’t as strong as you either!”

“I am a rubbish human,” Dracula continued to grin. “But if you can keep away from me, avoid my claws, then a human will be no problem.” He leapt again, Adrian didn’t manage to roll away quickly enough and received a flick to his nose. “Very poor, son. Do better.”

“This is mad,” Adrian yelped as his father backed off for only a second before advancing again. He stepped back, Dracula rolled his eyes.

“Look around you, see what’s around, the environment can help you.” He continued his advance. Adrian looked wildly around seeing nothing. He turned to face his father again only to get a backhand to the head.

“Ouch!” he snapped.

“I’m starting to think your mother was right, giving you a sword would have been a terrible idea,” Dracula muttered. Adrian snarled and swiped at his father who laughed. “Better.”

“You’re being ridiculous,” Adrian snapped. “You’ve put me in a place where I can’t get away from you and told me to get away from you.”

“Use your brain,” Dracula said firmly. “You’re not as foolish as you’re acting right now.” Again, Adrian received a clip on the back of the head.

“I’m going to get a concussion,” Adrian hissed leaping backwards when his father advanced again.

“A mortal mob would do worse,” Dracula said. “And there will be more of them, I am alone, this should be easy.”

“Easy!” Adrian leapt upwards, spotting one of the drapes and dug his claws into the fabric, it started to tear almost immediately.

“That’s better,” Dracula smiled. “Get where I can’t reach you.” Adrian scrambled up the drape before it could give way completely and settled on the pole holding it aloft. 

A small stone suddenly hit his left side.

“Ouch!” he snapped. “I thought you said humans, humans couldn’t get up here.”

“The mob found projectiles,” Dracula sniggered and threw another lose stone at his son, this one hit his forehead.

“How is this teaching me anything!” Adrian snapped batting away another stone as it hurtled towards him.

“It’s teaching you to be adaptable, to use your environment, it should also be teaching you that offence is sometimes the best defence but you’re being incredibly stupid.”

“How would I fight a mob?” Adrian snapped. “You’re not teaching me anything, you’re just throwing things at me!”

“Think how you can make me stop throwing things,” Dracula threw another stone.

“I can’t go anywhere else!” Adrian snapped, batting the stone away.

“What are your options,” his father said. “Hurry now, I’m getting bored, I might come up and pull you down.”

“A mob couldn’t pull me down!” Adrian said.

“But they can burn your perch,” Dracula dropped the stones and tensed to leap.

“Shit,” Adrian hissed and leapt off the pole before his father could knock him off. His father turned to face him still grinning.

“See now you’ve just died,” he said smugly.

“Because you gave me no option,” Adrian snapped.

“You think a mob or a hunter will advertise what you need to do to win?” Dracula scoffed. “You panicked and jumped down in their reach with no plan of what to do next.” He grabbed his son and held tight. “Got you.”

“What was I supposed to do?” Adrian sighed.

“Think, you were supposed to think,” his father explained. “There’s no secret code to winning that you can memorise. Each fight you have will be different, each enemy you face will be different, the best weapon you have is your ability to think.”

“Telling me to think doesn’t help,” Adrian huffed as his father slowly let him go. “What was I supposed to do.”

“Stop being angry to start with, second if I’m throwing things at you, take away what I am throwing or how I’m throwing it. Take out the biggest threat or at least the one that inconveniences you the most, keep moving, it's hard to hit moving targets. You’re fast and with practice, you will get agile but be prepared for a lot of bruises if you learn this slow the entire time.” Absently he ran his thumb over the fading bruise on his son’s forehead.

“I’m going to regret this,” Adrian muttered. “I should have listened to mother.”

“You’ll hate me to start with I think,” Dracula grinned. “But you’ll get better, one day I might even let you best me and won’t that feel good?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading, please review, I’d love to hear what you think of the chapter.  
> For information on published works and upcoming projects, release dates, as well as weekly blogs, check out [my website](https://katiemarie21.wordpress.com)

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading, please review, I’d love to hear what you think of the chapter. 
> 
> For information on published works and upcoming projects, release dates, as well as weekly blogs, check out www.katiemariewriter.co.uk


End file.
